I really like the gym on the airfield, it’s huge and has all the amenities.  One of the things I like most is that the front of the gym is floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows.  In the treadmill area this is about 80 feet long and 40 feet high. (That’s a guess, suffice it to say they’re huge.) So while I’m walking and listening to my old ipod I can watch the world as it passes by.  Wednesday, I was about 15 mins into my walk when a group of young women came from the left across the street. There were six of them and they looked like typical university student as they meandered down the sidewalk. They jostled and bumped and gestured and laughed and laughed. It made me smile to watch them having such a great time.  Then it dawned on me that what I was seeing was women at war.  All 6 were in full camo uniforms and 3 had full packs on their backs.  The First Armored Division just got back from Iraq and the post has been having a lot of welcome home ceremonies and I bet you these young women just came “home”.  They could have fit into any college campus or been out at a club, instead they’re in Germany serving their country and getting along the best they know how.  Some of our youth is really impressive to say the least.

I got really tired of being overweight! Actually I did that about 2 years ago but I never did anything to change my situation. (Why doesn’t bitching, moaning and generally complaining not make a person lose weight? Hmm?)

 Then about a month ago I started back at the gym. Bear too. He plays racquetball and I walk and do the Nautilus machines.   We go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I walk for 30 mins at a pace my left knee and my right hip can stand and then I do 45 minutes on the machines. I go slow and steady and make up in numbers of reps the lack of heavy weight. I figure if the reps start to get to much it’s time to add some more weight and so far it’s working.  On the treadmill I do the fat burner walk. When I first started thirty minutes was a long walk….yesterday at the end of 30 mins I felt like I could walk forever.  Progress is being made.

About food, I love food! I’m not one to go on a diet and deprive myself of anything. I decided that for me portion control would be ideal. Eat anything but be mindful of the amount.  So I still get my Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia but a smaller amount. Same with other foods as well.  Our Thanksgiving was celebrated on Wednesday instead of Thursday and we did a potluck in an Army hangar with all the guys Barry works with, it was yummy. I ate Turkey and dressing, potatoes and gravy etc. but only a bit of each and no second helpings. I was full but not stuffed. Unlike Austin who was on plate number 5 when we left…ah gluttony, thy name is America.  The funny thing was their reactions when they found out we were still going to go to the gym after eating. You would have thought we were on our way to kill small children based on the reaction we got. But it was Wednesday and we figured why skip a workout day when we were only a few blocks from the gym.  I love going to the gym and if we lived closer I would go everyday, so I’m certainly not going to skip a day when were already at the post.

In other news we got a small unfinished kitchen table from Ikea to replace our big round hand me down that was messing up my chi.   We spent about 20.00 on it and about the same on blue, red and green stain. First I stained the whole thing green and then I put blue on in various places and rubbed and blended it with the green. Then I did the same with the red, putting it over blue in some places to make a very light purple and in others blending and rubbing with the green and the blue. Now I’m waiting for my first coat of clear to dry then I’ll sand and put one maybe two more coats on.  As soon as my new camera gets hear I’ll take a picture so you can see my watercolor painting table.

Why am I getting a new camera? Last time I was in Ireland I lost mine.  I went over at the end of October and either it was lost or stolen the night before I left to come home. I prefer to think I lost it rather than it was pickpocketed.  So I had Em, my sweet girl, pick me up a Canon Powershot SX110.  I’m hoping it will be an easy point and shoot because unlike so many of you on here, I am a real amateur.  I still want to be able to snap on the run and get a decent photo.  I guess we will all find out when I take pictures of my kitchen table whether it takes decent pictures. 

I was dreaming about the desert a lot. As some of you know I grew up in Arizona. I was born in the South but my parents moved to Phoenix when I was 7.  In the summer before 7th grade we moved to Copper Country.  Specifically Kearny Arizona. So I grew up with a lot of open desert areas and occasionally still dream about being there. I can even smell how it smells before and after a rain. Which anyone who’s lived in the desert can tell you is very distinct.   Since there are no plans on a trip back there, last time we were at Bauhaus we got all the stuff for a mini cactus garden.  I’ll take pictures of that too…when the camera arrives.   (Bauhaus is like Home Depot or Lowes)

That’s it for now, though I will write down some of the things I see thru the gym windows when I’m on the treadmill. Good stuff I tell you.